Paperjack
Paperjack What Orgami Expert / Fortune Teller Books and Stories this Character Appears In * Dreams Underfoot — ** "The Conjure Man" -11 (described at beginning) ** "Our Lady of the Harbour" (1991) (mentioned at end) ** "Paperjack" (1991) Defining Description or Bio Old black man who is an origami expert. He also tells fortunes w: folded paper Chinese fortune-telling devices. About He can be found mostly in Fitzhenry Park, busking Personality and Character There was a magic about him, the magic that always hangs like an aura about someone who’s an artist. Around him, an overcast day didn’t seem as gloomy, and when the sun shone, it always seemed brighter. He exuded a glad feeling that you couldn’t help but pick up on. So in that sense, he was magic. Physical Description He had dark skin—an amazing ebony that seemed to swallow light. He was in his mid-sixties, short corkscrew hair all grey. His dark suit was threadbare, but always clean. Under his suit jacket he usually wore a white T-shirt that flashed so brightly in the sun it almost hurt your eyes—just like his teeth did when he gave you that lopsided grin of his. Talent Origami Occupation Busking: origami and fortune-telling Residence Location Newford — According to Bossman: * Winter: Paperjack lives with a Mexican family down in the Barrio * Summer: camps up behind the Beaches Other Details * I am "A mirror into which no one will look. A fortune that remains forever unread. My time here is done.” History / Background Connections (characters, places) To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Events in the Series (spoilery area) ✥ "Paperjack": Paperjack told Geordie Riddell's fortune—"Swallow the Past". That gave Geordie the bright idea to research Sam in the past. He went to the Quotes : "If his skin swallowed light, I knew where it went: into his eyes. They were dark, so dark you could barely tell the difference between pupil and cornea, but inside their darkness was a kind of glow—a shine that resonated inside me like the deep hum that comes from my fiddle’s bass strings whenever I play one of those wild Shetland reels in A minor." ~ Geordie : "No one in this world views it the same,” the voice said. “I believe that is what amazes me the most about it. Each person has his or her own vision of the world, and whatever lies outside that worldview becomes invisible. The rich ignore the poor. The happy can’t see those who are hurting.” ~ Paperjack : “Who ... who are you?” I asked. “A mirror into which no one will look. A fortune that remains forever unread. My time here is done.” — Geordie and Paperjack : "The giving itself is the gift. The longer I remain here, the more I forget." ~ Paperjack — "Paperjack" Notes / Comments origami was only the most visible side of his gig. He also told fortunes. He had one of those little folded paper Chinese fortune-telling devices that we all played around with when we were kids. You know the kind: you fold the corners in to the center, turn it over, then fold them in again. When you’re done you can stick your index fingers and thumbs inside the little flaps of the folds and open it up so that it looks like a flower. You move your fingers back and forth, and it looks like the flower’s talking to you. Paperjack’s fortune-teller was just like that. It had the names of four colors on the outside and eight different numbers inside. First you picked a color—say, red. The fortune-teller would seem to talk soundlessly as his fingers moved back and forth to spell the word, R-E-D, opening and closing until there’d be a choice from four of the numbers. Then you picked a number, and he counted it out until the fortune-teller was open with another or the same set of numbers revealed. Under the number you choose at that point was your fortune. Paperjack didn’t read it out—he just showed it to the person, then stowed the fortune-teller back into the inside pocket of his jacket from which he’d taken it earlier. See Also * Fitzhenry Park * Geordie Riddell * Jilly Coppercorn * Upper Foxville * Tombs * Newford Series External Links *Charles de Lint - Dreams Underfoot * *